In our current landscape of work, businesses face some real challenges, including the increasing risk of a damaging cyberattack. It’s never been more critical to develop a comprehensive data backup and disaster recovery plan. Should disaster strike, having these plans in place ensures that your organization can get back up and running as quickly as possible to keep your business moving forward. While many modern offices have sufficient plans in place, we also hear of repeated mistakes that reduce the efficacy of well-intentioned plans. Now is the time to take stock of your backup and disaster recovery plans: Are you committing some of these all-too-familiar mistakes?
Mistake 1: Not Having a Plan
The first mistake is the most obvious one: Make sure you actually have a data backup and disaster recovery plan in place! The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is responsible for preparing for and recovering from disasters of all kinds, and it reports a startling figure: One in five companies lack a comprehensive disaster recovery plan and one quarter of businesses do not reopen after experiencing a disaster.
There are many different types of backup and disaster recovery systems, ranging from on-site backup to cloud backup and from DIY approaches to managed services with an expert third party. No matter which approach you take, or how secure your overall infrastructure is, the single best defense against disaster is a robust backup and recovery plan. Simply put, not having a plan puts your data and your business (not to mention your reputation) at significant risk, now and in the future.
It’s a critical investment. Take the time to craft a strategic backup and recovery plan that aligns with your budget and needs and never make assumptions about covered services. For more, here’s a post on how to choose the right backup solution for your unique business.
Mistake 2: Not Protecting your Backups
Backing up data is only the first step. Just as we carry a spare set of keys or a backup phone charger, we need to think about how protected our backed-up data really is. Today, we see sophisticated malware attacks specifically target backed-up data to maximize damage and impact on organizations of all sizes. The only way to protect your backed-up data is through a process known as immutable backups, which means that once your backup data is written, it can never be changed or deleted. With immutable backups, your data can’t be read, modified, or deleted by clients on your network.
Mistake 3: Not Backing up the Right Applications
Modern organizations like yours may have dozens or hundreds of applications running all at once. It’s critical to conduct a complete inventory of these myriad applications to fully mitigate risk. Take Microsoft Office 365 as an example. Even with its ubiquitous penetration, many companies often fail to back up the copious data that is generated, shared, and stored within Office 365. At the same time, email remains a key target vector for attackers; nearly 95% of malware arrives via email! Especially with your third-party applications, it’s important to understand where a vendor’s responsibility for protecting, accessing, and restoring your data ends—and where yours begins.
As your business grows, you’ll likely implement new and needed applications to support your goals. Another good rule of thumb is to onboard all new applications through an official process to ensure the tool is fully included in your overall recovery plan and backup schedule.
Mistake 4: Not Paying Attention to the "Recovery" of Backups
OK, so you have a robust, automated data backup plan in place that safeguards your infrastructure and your applications. Great! But should disaster strike, how exactly will you take the next step to fully recover from it? Backups will only help if you’re able to leverage the data to get back to business as usual.
Bottom line: Your overall security strategy must ensure that your data is actually recoverable. Your team must be trained on how to do this, and you should also conduct periodic tests and evaluations to ensure that the system continues to function properly, swiftly, and is capable of delivering complete restorations.
Mistake 5: Not Relying on the Experts
Perhaps one reason why businesses still lack a comprehensive data backup and recovery plan is that the process is labor intensive, often involving multiple manual tasks. Ensuring that you have an up-to-date and actionable plan is a critical task, but it does inevitably drain the time and resources of already-busy in-house technology teams. Time spent on manual backup tasks is time lost on other business-critical, valuable tasks.
While there are pros and cons to the various approaches—such as DIY or managed backup and recovery—consider teaming up with an expert third party for a fully managed disaster recovery service. This ensures that you’ll benefit from the latest technologies and processes (e.g., automation), vast experience, and a global team that will, in essence, extend the capabilities of your own in-house technology team. When disaster strikes, speed is paramount; one study suggests that a breach that lasts under 200 days will cost your business 20% less than a breach lasting more than 200 days. The right partner can help you streamline your backup and recovery plan to get you back up quickly, efficiently, and fully.
Often, partnering with a trusted vendor on data backup and recovery can be a cost savings, as your solution will be customized to your unique needs. You’ll only pay for what you actually need, and nothing more.
As you take stock of your data backup and disaster recovery plans, are you committing any of these common mistakes? At N8 Solutions, we’re pleased to offer a range of best-in-class, customizable data backup and recovery solutions and services to get you up to speed. While we can’t predict when or how disaster strikes, we can—and must—take steps to prepare. N8 Solutions will help you get there. Please get in touch with us today. Call (262) 288-1501 or complete this simple form.